Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the country’s debt-ridden economy, which has been running for months, has collapsed due to shortages of food, fuel and electricity. According to the Associated Press (AP), addressing lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday, the country is facing a major crisis due to a shortage of electricity, gas, fuel and food, while the country’s economy is destroyed.
Although the current situation in Sri Lanka is considered the worst crisis in the country, Vikram Singh did not cite any significant new developments in his claim of economic ruin. According to observers, the aim was to convince his critics and opposition lawmakers that he had inherited a difficult task, which could not be resolved quickly, as the country’s economy was burdened with heavy debts. Tourism revenues have declined, while the Code-19 epidemic and rising commodity prices have exacerbated the problem.
Lawmakers from the country’s two main opposition parties are boycotting parliament this week to protest Vikrama Singh’s failure to deliver on his promises to turn the economy around. Ranil Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka’s prime minister just a month ago and is also the country’s finance minister.
He told parliament that Sri Lanka has to pay 700 million dollars to Salon Petroleum Corporation, which is due. No other country or company is willing to provide fuel to Sri Lanka. Even not from cash payments. He added that “if measures had been taken from the beginning to prevent the economy from collapsing, the country would not be facing this difficult situation today. Opportunity wasted, and now we see signs of falling to the lowest depths possible.
Ranil Wickremesinghe took office after days of violent protests over the country’s economic crisis. In his address to parliament, he blamed the previous government for the shortfall in foreign reserves. Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange crisis has paralyzed imports, leading to severe shortages of food, fuel, electricity and other essentials such as medicine. Sri Lankans are forced to stand in long queues for necessities like petrol and food items. So far, Sri Lanka has been running on 4 billion dollars in aid from India. On the other hand, the World Bank has pledged 30-60 million dollars to purchase medicines and other essential items.
Sri Lanka has announced it will hold 7 billion dollars in foreign debt this year. The country must pay an average of five billion dollars annually by 2026. According to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, in the current situation, aid from the IMF seems to be the only way. Agency officials will visit Sri Lanka to discuss the aid package, which is expected to result in a delegation-level agreement by the end of July. But the situation is very worse and petrol crisis is becoming more worse day by day in Sri Lanka.
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